Vermont requires 40 hours of supervised driving, including at least 10 hours at night, before a teen can get a junior driver's license. Vermont also requires a driver education course for teen applicants and a learner's permit held for at least one year — among the longest waiting periods in the country. A parent or guardian certifies the hours. The 6 hours of behind-the-wheel instruction in driver education are separate from the 40 and do not count toward them.
Vermont supervised driving requirements at a glance
| Requirement | Vermont |
|---|---|
| Total supervised hours | 40 hours |
| Night hours | 10 hours at night (of the 40) |
| Professional / instructor hours | Driver education is required for teen applicants, including behind-the-wheel instruction (commonly 6 hours). Those hours are separate from the 40. |
| Minimum permit age | 15 (learner's permit) |
| Permit holding period | 1 year on the learner's permit before the junior driver's license at 16 |
| Permit validity | Vermont learner's permits are commonly issued for a 2-year term — check the expiration on yours |
| Who may supervise | A licensed parent, guardian, or driver education instructor, or a licensed driver at least 25 years old, in the front passenger seat |
| Official log form | Vermont requires certification that the 40 hours (with 10 at night) were completed, submitted with the license application |
| Certification method | Parent or guardian signs the certification of supervised driving |
| State app or program | None. Vermont does not publish an official hour-logging app. |
Who can supervise practice driving in Vermont
Vermont's supervision rule is stricter than most for non-family adults.
- A licensed parent, guardian, or driver education instructor, or
- a licensed driver at least 25 years old, in the front passenger seat.
- Confirm the current wording with the DMV before relying on a non-family supervisor — this is the rule most likely to have been updated since any guide you read.
Night hours, and what "night" means here
Ten of the 40 hours have to be at night. Vermont's winter does most of the work: Burlington is dark by about 4:15 PM in December, so the drive home from anything is a night drive from November through February. In June, light lasts past 8:45 PM. The conditions worth seeking out in Vermont after dark are specific: unlit dirt and gravel town roads, where the edge of the road is genuinely hard to find; frost heaves and ice on shaded curves; and the moose and deer that are a real and serious hazard on Route 100 and similar roads at night.
What counts as a loggable hour
- Public-road driving with a qualified supervisor counts. The trip to school, errands, highway miles, practice loops around the neighborhood — it all counts as long as the permit holder is at the wheel and the supervising driver is in the front passenger seat.
- Time parked, idling, or waiting in a drive-through does not count. Log driving time, not trip time.
- Empty parking lots and closed courses generally do not count. The point of the requirement is real traffic.
- Hours before the permit was issued do not count. The permit has to be in hand first.
- Dirt road and mud season practice matters here. Vermont does not require it, but a driver who has never handled a soft dirt road in April is missing something the road test will never check and April will.
How to actually get to 40 hours
Forty hours over the one-year permit period is well under an hour a week — one of the gentlest paces in the country. That is the trap: a year is long enough to forget the log entirely, and Vermont's requirement is easy enough that families put it off until the license appointment is booked. Write it down as you go and the year does the rest.
Official Vermont resources
- Vermont DMV — Junior Driver's License — learner's permit, driver education, and junior license requirements
- Vermont Driver's Manual — the handbook the written test is drawn from
Tracking your hours
The Vermont requirement stretches across a full year, which is exactly the span where a paper log gets lost and memory gets generous.
PermitReady is a free iPhone and iPad app that does two things: practice questions for the Vermont DMV permit test, and a supervised driving hours log. Each drive is one entry — date, duration, and condition tags including night, highway, rain, and heavy traffic — with a running total at the top so you always know how far you have left to go. Entries can be backdated, so a log you started late can still be complete. It works offline, and there is no account to create: nothing is uploaded, and the log lives on the phone.
Honest limits: PermitReady does not detect drives automatically, does not use GPS, is iPhone and iPad only, and does not generate a signed state affidavit. It is a record you copy from when you fill in the Vermont DMV's certification of supervised driving. If you would rather have automatic drive detection or an Android app, RoadReady has both — we compare them directly in PermitReady vs RoadReady. There is also a full write-up of the driving log and a set of printable paper templates if you would rather keep it on paper.
Frequently asked questions
How many supervised driving hours does Vermont require?
40 hours, including at least 10 at night, before a junior driver's license. A parent or guardian certifies the total.
How long do you have to hold a Vermont learner's permit?
One year, which is among the longest permit periods in the country. The junior driver's license is available at 16.
Is driver education required in Vermont?
Yes, for teen applicants. The course includes behind-the-wheel instruction, commonly 6 hours, and those hours are separate from the 40 supervised hours.
Who can supervise practice driving in Vermont?
A licensed parent, guardian, or driver education instructor, or a licensed driver at least 25 years old, seated in the front passenger seat. Confirm the current rule with the DMV.
How many night hours does Vermont require?
10 of the 40. Vermont's early winter darkness makes November through February the easy window for collecting them.
Also for Vermont
Vermont permit test practice · Supervised driving hours log · Printable log templates · Supervised driving hours by state
Verification and disclaimers
Requirements verified August 2026 against Vermont DMV, Junior Driver's License. Requirements change, and the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles can revise them without much notice — always confirm the current rules with the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles before your road test.
PermitReady's driving hours log is a personal tracking tool. It is not a state form and has not been approved or endorsed by any state licensing agency. Check with your state's DMV, RMV, DPS, BMV, or equivalent agency for which log format they require, and use their official state form if one is mandated.
RoadReady® is a registered trademark of Safe Roads Alliance, Inc. PermitReady is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Safe Roads Alliance, Inc.
PermitReady is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or approved by the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles or any government agency.